Coming Home
by CeliaBlair24
Summary: Summer Rose managed to escape the wrath of Salem, but, instead of coming home, she had hidden away in fear. AU


In thick vines, she huddled, watching through haunted eyes. Watching as person after person- potential aid, potential threat- passed her by.

Somewhere, through the obscuring mist of time and paranoia, she had been a brave woman. A warrior, they'd often complemented, fierce and loyal at heart. The past was muddled, however. A wound scabbed over by time in hiding, in misery. She was no longer that woman. No, that woman had long since passed.

A coward now, she didn't deny. She hid from view every chance she got. Under the cover of trees, of water, of sand or rock. She could not risk being seen, or heard, or even conspired over. She was dead in the eyes of the public, and dead she would stay.

No more fighting, no more reckless hope- no more _pain_.

In the dead of night, however, when light could give her away and darkness she was forced to reside in- there, pain lingered. Rooted deep, forever raw. An all-consuming anguish stroked merely by a simple memory. Of a cottage, a stallion, of the lone knife she'd held closed since… she merely needed to recall. To dream her hopeless dreams, to wish her win against the insurmountable odds, to so much as crave the loving warmth of the past which so escaped her.

She would writhe then, legs twisted in the thin, useless blanket that kept her from fully reveling the feel of the cold soil beneath. Eyes closed, trapped and silently screaming to God's that no longer existed, to spirits that could care less, to her enemies… and her friends. Her beloved, her own children. So terribly afraid, aching and desperately trying to get away from those which haunted her.

How then, would she crave the safety of a loving embrace, of pleasant smiles, and, innocent faces.

A life without pain.

But she steeled herself, just in time. Just before the shadow of doubt crossed her mind. They were dead, they were all dead. The girl- no, the woman, had openly proclaimed.

 _'Killed them myself. The blondie's a screamer, but after poor Taiyang hit the floor, she was quiet enough. Red wasn't even worth mentioning, thought you should know, though.'_

She had to hide, she had to. The woman, if what she said was true... Ozpin would know, surely. But perhaps he would assume she were dead too? And who was she but a mere coward to crawl out of her hiding hole in search of a glory that would never reach.

 _'Oh, how I love to watch you squirm'_

Her wounds were scabbed, not healed. One tear. All they needed was one tear and she was finished.

A world without pain- she didn't want to be back on the battlefield. It was too soon, far too soon.

In the vines she huddled, waiting. For a friend or for an enemy, time would tell.

* * *

It was a day in winter when luck befell her.

A familiar streak of red, tattered and worn but there. He had a friendly enough smile, if slightly saddened. Red beads met silver spun orbs as he crossed the paths keeping him from his long-time friend.

"Qrow"

She whispered, hidden beneath the shadows, an unwilling refugee. He had a scruff on him now, and he was hunched and withdrawn in a way she had never seen him before. She entertained the idea then, like she had a thousand times before, if what that woman said was true….

"C'mon, I'll be taking you home"

And though a servant to fear, for the first time in months, she followed the small thread of hope.

Qrow didn't talk much, not like he used to. He was quiet, so much so- far from the boy she had originally known. She could have asked, like she would've months ago. In a different time, as a different person. Instead she simply sat, watching through licks of red and orange as her former teammate coerced the fire to sustain itself.

 _How had they fallen so far from grace?_

Qrow didn't talk through the night, though, she found she didn't care.

She had _hope._

* * *

They had her surrounded.

Black beasts, towering and hungry. She had a knife, a satchel of nothing but scraps of food and cloth. Qrow was nowhere to be found.

"Run, run and hide _where_ , little one?"

She didn't know how it had happened. The flames, so bright had warmed her skin. Qrow, calm and compassionate as ever had allowed her a momentary reprieve. She closed her eyes, only for a second. By the dying embers, under the night sky in a secluded camp so far away from danger. Qrow had assured her….

Her small thread of hope **_snapped_**.

When the witch took her, she could only resign herself to her fate. No will to fight any longer, what little of her hope drained away. When Salem scowled, she could only grasp the straws of satisfaction as the wrath she endured caused her no pain.

It was a fact she'd long fought against, a fact she- even for a moment- thought she could simply snip away. A fact she now welcomed with arms raised.

After all, she'd been dead for months now. An end to the torture of seeing one more day?

She welcomed the thought, smiling for the first time since she'd been sent off.

 _'I'm coming home'_

* * *

Probably the darkest fanfic I have **_EVER_** written. And for Summer Rose, too. A treat, I say!

So, having read this you're probably asking for explanations? Truth be told, I came up with this plot on a whim and hadnt truly thought out the finer points as I wrote it, making stuff up along the way. The basic concept however, stands firm.

Summer Rose escaped an embush by a familiar, cocky ravenette. Barely survived and was scarred no less in spirit as she was physically (Made to believe her family was dead- yeah). So Summer is in hiding, somewhere deep within the forests of Anima. Qrow finds her and she finally has hope of things going back to normal (despite lingering doubts). Things dont however as she has, sadly, been found out by the Queen of Grimm herself, Qrow a little flighty, out fighting Grimm somewhere else.

Well, I think you can all figure out the rest.

Hopefully this wasnt so bad shot at darker parts of angst, til next time,

Ciao!

-Yorky


End file.
